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Ramblings by Year

I should have known better. I mean, if something is to go abnormally wrong it will happen to me. I had hemorrhaging problems after I had my tonsils out at 14. My appendix operation didn’t go well and it took me longer to heal than a normal person, with an infection in the middle there and now I have a 7 inch scar. My breast reduction also took longer to heal and I had a weird infection thing on one side.

So, why should I have thought that laser eye surgery would be any different? Maybe because I didn’t think of it as surgery. Or I was too distracted by the thought of the yummy Ativan? Not one single person I had spoken to said anything bad about the procedure and the aftermath. NOT A ONE. A handful of people let me know that for the first month I would find my eyes changing a lot, but nothing too bad. If at least one person told me they’d had a bad experience I would have thought the better of it.

But no one did.

Here I am 9 weeks later and I have just come back from an “emergency” appointment because for the last 5 days my left eye has been seeing nothing but double. I have horrible headaches because of this, I am dizzy and nauseous and I am walking into things. (Ok, so I walk into things on a regular basis, but now I have an EXCUSE!) I phoned the LasikMD people yesterday and they fit me in this morning.

The good news? My eyes are just horribly dry and there is nothing else wrong. The eye itself is healthy and flat and nothing with the eye, other than the dryness is wrong. So that fear has been quelled. I finally sucked it up and agreed to put the plug things in my eyes. They are supposed to help keep tears in my eyes and get rid of the dryness. They are used by people with really bad dry eyes. And I hope they work for ME. I know I am a slow healer, but come on. I would like to be able to SEE. Seeing is important on many levels. I can’t work very well when I can’t see. I can’t learn to drive – and I am JUST getting comfortable with driving and then my eye goes all wonky. I’m seriously starting to wonder if my body is trying to prevent me from learning to drive. Bad, body! When I am able to drive on my own I will be able to leave the house at 9PM and go get you that Oh Henry bar you are craving! Just think of the amount of cravings I will be able to satisfy when I can drive! And books! I can drive out to the bookstore on a whim! It’s really in the best interest for the both of us, body, if I get my driver’s licence. Think about it.

So, I have these silicone plug things in my tear ducts and they are supposed to help with the dry factor and I have to keep taking my many eye drops (which I never stopped, just in case you doubt that I have been taking care of my eyes all this time). They cost me $75, which I suppose isn’t all that bad. Except that even though today is payday, tomorrow is Vet Trip Day and we’ll have to plop down at least $400 for that bill as it is Heart Worm Season and Rabies Shots and whatnot. And I have two big dogs and they cost a lot. And Annie isn’t doing that great and I am worried that we’ll have extra costs if something is wrong. So. Yeah.

And after all of this? I STILL CAN’T VAPOURIZE PEOPLE WITH MY EYES! Not one laser shoots out from them when I give idiot people my Death Glare. I try so hard, too. Until the double vision thing started I figured my headaches were from how hard I was glaring at people trying to vanquish them.

Would I recommend laser eye surgery to others? Well, I don’t know. I’d say a big old NO to people who have dry eyes to begin with. Don’t listen to the doctors, it won’t “be fine”. Over 2 months later and I can’t see still. In fact I can see less than when I had glasses and took them off. I can’t see close, I can’t see far. It’s driving me bloody insane. Except I seem to be the ONLY person to have ever had any complaints. I have people look down at me (not just because I am short) and sniff “Well, I could see fine the next day, so I don’t see what your problem is”. And I’m like, really? REALLY? You’re judging me and my eye problems? Did you really just use that tone? Jeez.

I can’t see. Some days I can – out of one eye. I sometimes feel like I never should have done it and just stayed with the glasses. I liked my glasses on me, they were cute. So I don’t know what to do now.

I enjoy this series. It’s not one I rush out to the store to get on release day (especially since I wait for the paperback to come out) but I like to make sure I have them all in my possession on my shelf. I am always a year or so behind in the series due to my waiting for the paper edition but I’m ok with that.

There’s an odd thing about this book, I adored it, I adored Charlotte and Robert and the “mystery” but at the same time I felt it didn’t really fit into the main story arc – which is present era Eloise’s research into the Pink Carnation. Sure there was treason with the King of England and whatnot, but it seemed out of the “spy” story to me.

Either way, I found this one of the more enjoyable stories in the series. It made me chuckle a couple of times and all of the characters were fun. In fact Henrietta and Miles were around a lot and I had forgotten they were the other two characters that I loved. So fun and funny!

I had a feeling at the start of the book that the next one would focus on Penelope and it looks like I am right (I know it’s been out forever but I never read reviews or the summary as I had not read this book yet and I didn’t want to get too far ahead of myself. There are a ton of people in these books and I am confused enough trying to remember who the heck everyone is!) But she sort of vanished after that first quarter of the book and I thought that was weird.

I am finding myself more and more disinterested with Eloise and Colin in the present world. The chapters are too far apart and short for me to devote much of my emotion in them. And this time around with the “maybe he’s a spy too!” sub-plot I just didn’t care. I wanted to get back to Charlotte and Robert and when the chapters would suddenly switch to “present” time I’d get confused and frustrated.

Whereas this book didn’t focus on spies all that much, there was mystery and intrigue and a threat on the Crown. I loved that Charlotte was accepted at Court as much as she was. I get the impression it’s impossible not to adore her. And her love of books made me think of Callie in Nine Rules… and of course endeared her even more to me as I adore books just as much (though I do not romanticize them as much as those ladies do).

I did feel that the flower reference was just sort of tossed in there at the last minute when perhaps an editor said “hey, so, who is the Night Jasmine?” It was touched upon so briefly and yet another reason why I felt this book was outside of the spy arc of the series. It was sort of an insignificant part of the story when you really think about it.

Like this:

A funny thing happened in my blog world this week. It’s one of those things that is so mind boggling that I have to share it with you, my loyal readers (Hi Mum! Hi Dad! Hi Sis!).

For the past 3 years I have been subscribed to a blog called This Sign Has Sharp Edges. It’s a blog that posts funny signs. It always makes me laugh so I subscribed through a feed reader to keep up with the funny photos. Sadly this month there was a post on the blog that said it would no longer be kept up. I was sad. I left a comment saying as much.

The other day I got a comment on this blog from the person who ran TSHSE. Turns out she’s Canadian. And you know, a SHE. I thought the site was run by some dude in the US. She does have another blog, a personal one, like mine. I had glanced at it briefly the day I saw the post about TSHSE coming to an end, but as I was at work I didn’t have time to really snoop around this new blog.

Not only is this person Canadian and close by me… we have a mutual friend and the similarities between the two of us are just outstanding.

There are a couple of differences, the biggest one being that she’s having a baby and I am so very much not (ever!). But we have two dogs, we have a husband (not the same one), we have a mutual friend. A friend that is about to gain me as a secretary at the start of June when my current boss is done with his position.

Very, very curious.

We have emailed back and forth the past few days from that one comment and the similarities between us keep growing. I am going to have to find a chance to meet this woman in person.

The internet always amazes me. I have made some fantastic friends online and have been able to meet other people that make me realize I am not alone in my issues or likes and dislikes. But this is the first time I have met someone whom I have been reading for three years and not even realized who she was or how much we had in common.

On one hand I am thankful that there was no internet when I was growing up because I was bullied enough just with a rotary phone. On the other hand, I am so thankful that the internet was created and that people can find others with the same humour, interests and lives. I am looking forward to snooping more in this new blog that I have discovered and this new person I have discovered.

Six degrees? Small world? (Gah! Sorry! Don’t think about the song and it won’t get stuck in your head! DON’T DO IT!) Synchronicity?

I can’t remember where I first saw this book. I do know that Jenny at Wondrous Reads reviewed it over the summer. But I don’t think that’s the first place I saw it. Maybe it was, who knows. Either way, I knew I had to get it. And of course it was ONLY out in the UK so that’s where my new BFF The Book Depository came in.

This book arrived in December and it’s been another book that has sat on my TBR shelf waiting to be read. For some reason I got the urge to pick it up this weekend right after I had finished The Sugar Queen. I read it cover-to-cover before I went to bed. It was that fun!

Even though this book is set in modern day – a fact I didn’t realize until one of the twins looked at her parents’ gravestones and it said they died in 1996, I found this book to fit in very well with a gothic, victorian theme. I honestly thought this story took place in the early 1900’s! And that was the point of the story. The twins Ovid and Lorelli live in a house of gloom since their parents passed away. Only 40 watt light bulbs allowed. No TV, no computer (ok, so that should have perhaps clued me into the fact that this wasn’t 1900), no upbeat music.

The twins have been trying to kill each other ever since they could remember. On their thirteenth birthday they make a truce so that when they turn 16 and come into their inheritance and one of them dies, the other forfeits the inheritance.

Each chapter was spooky and suspenseful and very, very funny. You couldn’t trust anyone in this book. Each chapter spoke about a different character and that character was suddenly very suspect. Who was trying to kill the twins if they weren’t trying to kill each other for once? Who killed their father? Their mother? Their cook’s husband? So many deaths and all sorts of spooky things related to the Thornthwaite’s.

I will admit I had no idea who the actual bad guy was, everyone seemed to be in on it. And I had to read until the end just to satisfy my curiosity! The book was so much fun to read. I read for the mystery and for the humour and for the twins. I think I should like to read other books by Gareth P. Jones as he seems to have a brilliant sense of humour.

Why does the UK get all the awesome books? Thank you Book Depository for your free international shipping so I can partake in the awesome UK literature. You’d think as part of the Commonwealth us Canadians would have easy access to these books, but alas no! Seems unfair!

Like this:

I dub Sarah Addison Allen my new goddess. It used to be Sarah McLachlan but then she cheated on me with the US Olympics and I think I might have to break up with her. However, I have a new Sarah Goddess and she’s in literature this time. And I already know she’s not Canadian so it’s not like she can cheat on me with the US like some other Sarah did. *might be slightly bitter about the Olympic theme for NBC*

So, in August 2008 I read Garden Spells. The only other thing in the world I think I am more in love with is my husband (ok and my dogs). I had not been that touched by a novel in my adult life. And not the kind of touching that results in band-aids on dolls either. This book filled me with such enchantment and contentedness that I was literally sad about finishing it.

I put off reading The Sugar Queen for some time. Why? Mainly because I was so enthralled by Garden Spells that I didn’t want to break that connection I had with the book in case this new one didn’t make me feel the same way. This was a different story, different characters and what if I didn’t like them? What if what I felt about Garden Spells didn’t happen with The Sugar Queen? So many people told me I would love this book and that I should read it. I did finally pick it up last year but then it sat on my TBR shelf and just taunted me with it’s pretty cover and sugary title. The book even FELT enticing. But I couldn’t bring myself to read it.

Finally Saturday afternoon, after having finished another book I picked this one up. It’s almost like it called to me. And I read it. Cover to cover. In about two and a half hours.

It started off ok. I didn’t think I would have the same connection to these characters as I did in the previous book. I didn’t like Della Lee in the closet. I hated Josie’s mother with a passion (which I know was the point). But then Della Lee started to grow on me and I was pretty sure I knew her story (I was right). Josie and Chloe are two women I would love to have as friends. Adam was sweet and the whole snowman scene filled me with such joy.

The best part? Chloe being followed around by books her entire life. The relationship she had with the books that were trying to help her out by just appearing made me laugh many times. Imagine that! To be forever followed by books that were there when you needed them (even if you didn’t want their help). I think I have a lot of books… something like that would probably kill my husband. ha!

I had tears in my eyes at the end of this book. The connection I felt with the previous one was not as strong with this novel, although I was left with the same lighthearted feeling as I turned the last page. There is something in the way this author writes that just speaks to my heart. It’s not overly romantic, but the relationships in the story are strong and the humour is subtle and just the right amount. The characters are real, even with the quirks of book stalkers. You feel what they feel you want them to succeed and find happiness.

I know Sarah Addison Allen currently has a new book out, however I will be a good girl and wait until the trade paperback comes out next spring. The lure of the new book is strong however due to the use of the word “moon” in the title. I have a weird lust for all things moon-related. (One of the best books I read was Elizabeth Berg’s The Pull of the Moon, which I lent to someone who never gave it back and then vanished one day. Sigh. She had two of my Berg books.)

So. The lesson I learned here? Read anything and everything that Sarah Addison Allen ever publishes. She is a literary goddess.